Resoluciónes de Año Nuevo are often scoffed upon by skeptics, and can be at best a tired conversation piece when you're killing time with tía Rosa. But I beg to differ. It's healthy for humans to have a checkpoint held by all that can be used an opportunity for honest self reflection. For me, I took into stock my appreciation of language. There seemed to be a lot of hablando, but not much caminando...¿entiende?
Something had to be done. After all, we're talking about a girl hoping to get her fluency back up enough to travel abroad in roughly un año y seis meses and possible major in Spanish...yet finds herself running to Google Translate every chance she has (Google Translate is the McDonald's of the online translation world. It's everywhere, fast, gets the basic job done...but just like how Mickey D's chicken nuggets aren't quite chicken, Google's translation aren't always en punto.) After considering numerous ideas, I looked them all square in the face, seeing that the solution was fairly fácil.
Este año, my resolución es simply to do more. Listen to music más, talk en español más, upload podcasts, read books, etc. You get the picture. It won't be completely easy, and it might take *gasp* determination to keep myself on track some days. Luckily, I have a few handy dandy tools to give me a lift.
1. Zumba World Party: Okay, so it's not exactly tangoing in Argentina, but my sister's Christmas gift has ended up being a fabulous help. Besides giving me a chance to practice and somewhat expand my miniscule experience with Latin dance (something I dearly appreciate), this video game has plenty of routines to practice set to Spanish music. Okay, so some of it might be reggaeton, but I'll take what I can get...and what I get is a great workout.
2. News in Slow Spanish: This news service reports the news, you guessed it, in slow Spanish. Brought to you online (through subscription) and free of charge via Podcasts, News in Slow Spanish (with a focus on español spoken in Spain) and News in Slow Latin Spanish (this time, more like the español found in latinoamérica) is great for improving your listening...something I am sorely in need of. This service is intended for those who already have a basic grasp on grammar and vocabulary, so newbies..be a little wary. Otherwise, I highly encourage you to start downloading!
3. Junot Díaz (well...Barnes and Noble, too): This author, who penned the much acclaimed/awarded/best-selling novels "Drowned", "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao", and most recently "This Is How You Lose Her", is a fantastic choice for those trying to get into Spanish. While all novels are readily found online translated to Spanish, the English copies have enough Spanish to give you some decent practice, what with context clues and all. Granted, his stories are centered on the lives and stories of Dominican-Americans and their cultural ties, and in doing so contain intense language as far as slang and curses go. But as I see it...the more you know about a language, the better off you are. The narratives he writes are vivid, honest, riveting, and spare no harsh reality. If you ask me, it takes brevity and a sense of truth to write that way, and is more than worth your time to read.
4. Tablets: While this is obviously not the most convenient tool for practicing un otro idioma, my new tablet is a capital-G Great thing to have around. Apps upon apps are available for practicing and translating Spanish....some of which may someday be reviewed here! The current favorite? Spanish hangman.
5. Netflix: Sometimes, when you live in a quiet little town like me, your foreign film selection is somewhat limited. Luckily, there is Netflix. A rotating selection of movies from Spain, the Caribbean, México, South America, etc. helps not only for language practice in multiple dialects and accents, but for getting a glimpse at the customs and lives of Latin and Hispanic culture. Another favorite of mine is watching a movie I know and love, but with Spanish subtitles.
Hopefully, with this arsenal of aids, I can get my fluency back up and running, and (maybe) even improve since a year past. I hope that your resoluciónes go as smoothly as this one will!
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